Apartment Week: J Street Lofts

Main entrance and courtyard, J Street Lofts | Photos and rendering courtesy George Manosis unless otherwise noted

As of now, the wave of reinvestment, redevelopment and revitalization that’s transformed large swaths of North and South Philadelphia has yet to leap over the huge freight railroad embankment that crosses eastern North Philadelphia on its way to the massive former Reading Railroad pier complex in Port Richmond.

Kensington developer George Manosis has just placed a huge bet that it will, and soon. In fact, you could call his J Street Lofts complex, a mere block from the Tioga El stop in Harrowgate, the bleeding edge of that wave.

First-floor lobby lounge

The fitness center, nearing completion

Manosis is now putting the finishing touches on the common facilities of the former industrial building he purchased for conversion to apartments. These facilities include an outdoor courtyard, a fitness center, a lobby lounge for residents and guests and a dog walk area.

A typical one-bedroom apartment

A typical apartment bathroom

Detail of steamfittings preserved in a building hallway | Photo: Sandy Smith

Both the building and the apartments inside it show off their industrial heritage. All the units have ceilings at least 12 feet high, and the bi-level loft apartments have soaring 32-foot-high ceilings in their main living areas. Newer climate-control ductwork joins the exposed beams, pillars, brick walls, and sprinkler-system pipes to give everything that prized industrial-chic look people pay good money to own in neighborhoods like Callowhill.  The only difference here is that you don’t have to buy it — you can borrow it for as long as you like.

Rendering of the new construction second phase of the J Street Lofts project

So far, the bet has paid off for Manosis. Demand for the apartments in the Phase One building, a three-story structure, has proved strong enough for him to begin work on a new five-story building on the lot next door for Phase Two. He expects the apartments in that building to be ready for move-in in the fall of 2019.

J Street Lofts by the Numbers

Address: 3450 J St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19134

Number of units: 64 1- and 2-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 980 to 1,400 square feet. One-bedroom units have either 1 bath or 1 full and 1 half bath; 2-bedroom units have 2 baths. The second phase will add an additional 24 2-bed, 2-bath units along with street-level commercial space

Number of parking spaces: Total not available, but each unit comes with a deeded parking space in a secure gated lot

Rents: Full range of rents unavailable; currently available 1-bedroom units rent for $1,450 to $1,495 per month

Other stuff: The building is pet-friendly, but there may be some restrictions on number, breed and size; contact the leasing agent for details. The entire complex has secure gated access.

More information: 215-789-9648

Updated Oct 22nd, 9:33 a.m., to correct information about the Phase Two building.